The Vile Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from two semi finalists for State Teacher of the Year and State Principal of the Year. Superintendent of Schools Toni Hamlin introduced her three guests which included Vidrine Elementary School Principal Sherrell Tezeno . Tezeno introduced her teacher, Brandi Marcantel, who is in the running for State Teacher of the Year.
Brandi Marcantel is a fourth grade teacher at Vidrine Elementary for the past three years and has been in the profession for nineyears. She is married and she and her husband are the parents of two children. She is totally dedicated to making sure her students achieve and she has 100 percent of her students passed their Leap test exams.

Also Cherie Fontenot, principal at James Stephens Montessori School is in the running for State Principal of the Year. Cherie has been an educator for 20 years and for the past four years as principal.

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from representatives of Pine Prairie Energy Center, a gas storage facility located in Easton. Among those attending speaking were Don Fontenot, Ed Benoit and Kyle Fontenot.

Benoit offered a audio visual presentation on Pine Prairie Energy that is been in operation since 2006. The facility has five caverns, 4000 feet deep. The caverns can hold up to 46 billion cubic feet of gas enough to supply the gas needs of the entire state of Louisiana for one day. The facility is located over a huge salt dome which is nearly 2 miles wide. The company has 84 miles of 24 inch pipeline that goes to Eunice and elsewhere. The pipeline connects to such major companies pipelines as Tennessee Gas, Transco, Texas Eastern, Columbia Gas and Texas Gas.

Pine Prairie Energy employs 19 people and has provided over 15 million dollars in taxes sinc ei began operations. The three were guests of Rotarian Eric Gil.

Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine said she is preparing a special gift basket to present to the Mayor of Paris, France when she visits our area on Monday.

The Evangeline Parish School Board had its bi-monthly meeting tonight in the Media Center at Ville Platte High School. The meeting room was packed with excited parents and students as the “Students of the Year” Awards were given out. Linda Lafleur presented the awards to the following nominees and winners:

5th Grade:

Brooklyn Fontenot – Bazile High School

Ainsley Dutton – Bayou Chicot Elementary

Hunter Brown – Chataignier Elementary

Isaiah Noel – Mamou High School

Coreyan Johnson – Vidrine Elementary

Josie Guillory – Ville Platte High School

8th Grade:

Jaylen Thomas – Bazile High School

Jessica Cole – Bayou Chicot Elementary

Jada Guillory – Chataignier Elementary

Kiersten Goodley – Mamou High School

Chloe Tate – Vidrine Elementary

Jarden Bias – Ville Platte High School

12th Grade­:

Savanna Bergeaux (Not Pictured) – Bazile High School

Kaitlyn Chatelain – Mamou High School

Makayla Lenzy Hebert – Pine Prairie High School

Reygan Ann Jagneaux – Ville Platte High School

THE STUDENTS OF THE YEAR ARE:

5TH GRADE: Ainsley Dutton – Bayou Chicot Elementary

8th GRADE: Kiersten Goodley – Mamou High School

12th GRADE: Savanna Bergeaux – Bazile High School

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin reported that “Testing” is going “Very Well so far”. There have been reports in the media about children being able to “opt out” of the testing; however, Evangeline Parish has a very low percentage of that happening compared to other school districts. Evangeline had 1 at Pine Prairie High School, 1 at Chataignier and 19 at Bayou Chicot Elementary. Ms. Hamlin said administrators have explained to parents that this is a tool they can use to see how their children are learning. She also noted that the Schools and the District get a “0” for any student that opts out. She also pointed out that even though opting out will never harm a child, it is not a guaranty that they will automatically promote to the next level. There is still an academic standard in the Pupil Progression Plan that students must meet. Student were asked if they think the ELA part of the test was “harder than they thought it would be or easier”. She reports that students are saying it is “Easier than they thought it would be.”

The Board voted to approve a three year contract with First Student to handle transportation services. Discussions were had regarding overloading on buses and children standing up. Board Member, Wanda Skinner, questioned First Student and voiced concerns regarding calls she has received from parents regarding overcrowding on a couple of buses. Ted Soileau and First Turn responded and explained that they have been working on re-rerouting some of the routes to avoid this from happening.

The Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting today at Nick’s on Main.

Guest Speaker was Donald Bergeron, Secretary/Treasurer of the Evangeline Parish Police Jury. He explained how far reaching the responsibilities of the Police Jury are. From Libraries to Prisons and ditches and roads and everything in between. He explained that the Police Jury is currently working with Congress to keep Tax Exemptions for Municipal Bonds. If they did not have the exemptions, it would not be attractive to contractors interested in a project. Mr. Bergeron explained part of the Road Work Project that Parish has been working on. It is divided into the Northern Portion and the Southern Portion. So far, in the Northern portion, they have laid 21 miles out of the 83 total miles and have spent 1.7 million dollars out of the total cost of 9.6 million dollars. In the Southern Portion, they have laid 12 of the 69 miles and spent 1.47 million dollars out of the total 9.3 million. They will be moving into Phase II and then Phase III.

Angie Rozas with Cleco announced that this year’s Annual Banquet is going to be held on April 29th. The Social will be from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. and the banquet starts at 7:00 p.m. Clerk of Court, Randy Deshotel, announced this year’s theme will be “Casino Theme” and there will be a silent auction, cash bar and they are working on the entertainment. Tickets will be $40.00 and the Chamber will be sending out letters letting you know when they are available. They will announce the following awards:

Man of the Year

Woman of the Year

Business of the Year

Business Person of the Year’

The deadline for you to nominate someone is April 3rd. Please include a Bio of the person when you nominate them.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Boisy Pitre, a computer specialist and software developer who resides in the Prairie Rhonde area. Pitre gave an interesting presentation on the history of computer technology and mathematics and how they are inter -related. The first transistor was invented in 1947 and iBM invented the first personal computer in 1981. He felt the future of computer technology will be in wearables such as watches to make it more personal to the user. The camera will show the emotional engagement of the user to be able to tell if you happy or sad. The new devices will also be able to improve your fitness and health such as measure your blood pressure, sugar levels and how your meal impacts your body chemistry. Boisy Pire was the special guest of Library Director Mary Foster Galosso.

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from representatives of the Smoked Meat Festival. Renee Brown and Eva Vidrine, who represent part of the new group of organizers who will be sponsoring the Smoked Meat Festival to be held June 26 and 27.

It was reported that the sponsoring group from last year chose not to continue holding the festival so a new group was formed to keep the tradition of the festival continue. The six member board contains some members from the Viet Nam Veterans organization.

This will be the 23rd year the festival will showcase smoked meats. Most of the same traditions will remain including the smoked meat cook off, honoring veterans and giving back to the community. This year there will be a children’s area with a petting zoo along with the National Guard displaying a maze. It was also announced that the musical acts include Jaryd Lane, Geno Delafosse, Keith Frank and Ashton Dupre. The group is looking for corporate and business sponsorships and volunteers.

In other business, it was announced that the Rotary District Conference is planned for April 16-18 in Crowley and the Ville Platte club will be participating.

The club is planning to meet with the mayor and city officials to decide where to locate the new Rotary club signs at street intersections.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held its monthly meeting tonight in the courthouse. There was much discussion on some lingering issues in the parish.

Tempers were flared as the discussion of pay raises for the Justices of the Peace and the Constables of the parish were discussed. Police Juror, Kenny Burgess, made a motion that they give a $150.00 a month pay raise to the JP’s and Constables. After debating back and forth, the Jury voted against granting the pay raises. President, Ryan Ardoin, pointed out that “Donald Bergeron has already said we are over budget. We have given out loans and that money is tied up.” Juror, Kenny Burgess, stated “Unbelievable. We can give raises to the City Marshall/Constable in Ward 1, but we can’t give it to the rest of the Parish.” Juror, Lamar Johnson, was vocal as he left the police jury room, upset at the decision. Juror, Bryan Vidrine, was quoted saying “We have to stay in budget before we give out raises…this isn’t Washington D.C.”

As we have reported to you in the past, abandoned properties have been and were in deep discussion with the Police Jury this evening. They received bids from three companies to demolish structures that lie on multiple properties. If the Jury went ahead with the demolition of the structures through the companies that bid, the cost would then turn around and be placed as a lien against the property owner. Then, if not paid, the property could go up for sale and the police jury would recover the money through that avenue. The problem arose that some of these properties would not bring in near the money that it would cost to have the dwellings demolished, leaving the Police Jury in the red. They discussed the possibility of demolishing them through the Public Works department, and Director, Chester Granger, was asked to visit the locations and put together a cost estimate of what it would cost the Parish to complete the work themselves. The bids from the three companies ranged greatly but all were in excess of $50,000.00. The Jury voted to put off action in the ongoing struggle until they receive the report from Mr. Granger.

The issue of Animal Control was raised as discussions about building a new animal shelter continue to be had. President, Ryan Ardoin, suggested we “bring it to the people for a vote”, either a millage tax or a sales tax. Kenny Burgess stated he was against a millage because then only homeowners would be paying the tax. The Jury has been speaking with other parishes and organizations about the cost of building and maintaining a facility in the Parish. Surrounding areas pay a wide range from $50,000.00 a year to $198,000.00 a year to maintain a facility. They will have two guest speakers at the next committee meeting to provide more information to the Jury. Jill Stevenson and Tim Benoit from Acadia Parish will present the information to the Jury.

Dwight Landreneau, Head of State Parks, spoke to the Jury and requested they enter into a Cooperative Agreement with Chicot State Park. There has been a tremendous cut in funding and his office has had to let 116 people go from their employment. He says they simply do not have the money to operate as they did in the past. The Police Jury agreed to enter into the Agreement, which would aid the park by allowing employees, on down time, or as needed, to assist with duties and work at what Evangeline Parish calls “The Park”. Mr. Landreneau pointed out that the park generates $3.5 million dollars for Evangeline Parish and it is vital that we keep it up and running. He also said that residents who would like to volunteer at Chicot State Park or the Arboretum can call the main office speak with the office manager. Also, if you have a business or if you would like to personally “Adopt” part of the park, please call as well. There are many options you can help with.

The Police Jury voted to designate March American Red Cross Month in celebration of the Heroes in Evangeline Parish who help those in need during the time of emergencies. They come to the rescue through blood donation, helping soldiers communicate with love ones who are hurt, and prevent and eliminate human suffering during disasters. Erica Williams with The American Red Cross spoke to the Jury and thanked them for the proclamation. Locally, they have helped with 7 fires, 8 families in need, 345 parish residents have received CPR certifications, and 23 parish residents are American Red Cross Volunteers. She asked for all of you to please register and volunteer with the American Red Cross.

Public Works Director, Chester Granger, brought up an issue he is currently dealing with. While Contractor, Coastal Road and Bridges has been using Readon School Road, there has been damage done to the road. They have been in disagreement about repairing the road and he reports that he and Mike Smith with Coastal have not been able to come to an agreement regarding the repairs that need to be done to the road. He said “The repairs are unsatisfactory to our standards and he has until March 16th to have the repairs done. We will keep you up to date on the matter.

There will be a public hearing on April 13th at 5:45 regarding abandoning a portion of Gallou Lake Road due to the purchase of the surrounding land by Dominick Brown from JT Miller.

Secretary/Treasurer, Donald Bergerson, reported that the 2% Sales Tax Collection for the month of January was $247,717.13.

The Ville Platte City Council held its monthly meeting tonight at Ville Platte City Hall. During Council Comments, Councilman Mike Perron, brought up the problems that the City is having with street cleaning. He stated that the driver of the street sweeper is having problems with residents putting their trash boxes too close, if not on, the road. This becomes a problem because the sweeper cannot pass without the driver getting out and moving the boxes. Residents should know their trash boxes should be at least 1 – 2 feet away from the curb. It was also noted that much of the trash that residents are disposing off are not the City’s responsibility to pick up. It is the responsibility of the Solid Waste Commission. Items such as sofas, stoves, air conditioners, refrigerators and other items should be put out in accordance with the specifications of the Solid Waste Commission, then residents are to call 363-7254 and ask that those items be picked up. Mayor Vidrine stated “We are trying to clean up the City. If you put your trash out too early and animals get into your trash and scatter it, you can be ticketed if it is not picked up. This is your responsibility.” There was also discussion of the problem with residents cutting limbs and raking leaves and other lawn clippings into ditches and gutters. This becomes a problem with drainage and creates a headache to clean up.

Mayor, Jennifer Vidrine, was pleased to report that expenditures for the City of Ville Platte for the month of February were $123,670.30. That was down $95,953.47 from the month of January. She, again, thanked the city employees, supervisors, in-house personnel for all of their efficient work, as well as business owners for following the purchase order process.

A concerned citizen spoke to the council regarding his unpleasant experience with SuddenLink in our area. He has been unhappy with the connectivity service as well as the lack of answers he has received from SuddenLink regarding any possible upgrade in equipment. The Mayor shared her additional concern with their service and stated she has spoken to two other companies to see what availability Ville Platte would have for another service to be offered. She stated she was unhappy with the price of the service versus the amount of channels. Another member of the audience in the council room stated he wanted to know why his service has not gotten better, yet he has received a $6.00 hike on his bill.

The City Council unanimously agreed to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with Head of State Parks, Dwight Landreneau, and Chicot State Park due to the cuts in funding that are happening. The City will be aiding the park through the Experience Work program by providing workers, volunteers, machinery, etc., when needed.

A Cooperative Agreement was also agreed to for Renee Brown and her group taking over The Smoked Meat Festival. Mayor Vidrine thanked Renee and Jessie Muse, along with the rest of the volunteers, for taking over the event and not letting it go.

Mayor Vidrine thanked Councilman Riggs for his generous donation of a “Ping Pong Table” to the Boys & Girls Club.

Also in attendance were Glen Fontenot and Charlie Manuel from the Ville Platte Lyons Club. They also made a donation to the Boys & Girls Club.

Mayor Vidrine also made note of the article regarding KVPI, French Programming and Evangeline Parish in the New York Times. She showed her framed copy and said it would be hung inside City Hall.

During the Mayor’s Comments, she took the time to state: “Publicly and personally thank the Council for all they have done for the City. The Mayor’s name comes up a lot but the Council has so much to do with everything. I thank them for their support and enthusiasm for getting things done. A lot of cities have councils and mayors that do not get along and things do not get done. But, the Council and I work together as 1 body to do the best for the City.”

She also thanked City Engineer, Ronnie Landreneau, for doing so much for Ville Platte on a daily basis. She stated: “I don’t many people know the time, paperwork, research and all Ronnie does for Ville Platte. I thank him from the bottom of my heart and appreciate all you and your staff do to get things right for our city.”

She lastly thanked our City Attorney, Eric Lafleur for all he does for our city and our area. She stated: “We are very lucky to have a city attorney who is also a State Senator and we thank him for being there for us.”

The Vile Platte Rotary Club today heard from Connie Lamke with the Relay for Life. She announced that this year’s relay event for the benefit of the American Cancer Society is scheduled for Saturday April 18 from 12 noon to 12 midnight at the Ville Platte High Football Field. This year’s theme is “Keep Calm and Relay On”. There will be a BBQ cook off sponsored by Teet’s Food Store. T Boy’s of Mamou will sponsor a boudin eating contest. There will be fun jumps, fire truck rides, food, a silent auction, contests, raffles, music and fun.

Also, the group is sponsoring a 5K Fun Walk/Run on March 21 for Relay for Life.

Some 255 cancer patients in Evangeline Parish have been assisted directly by the American Cancer Society in the last two years.

Lamke also announced that the Ville Platte Police Department is sponsoring a fund raiser for Faith House March 18 to pick up supplies for women and children who have to leave their homes quickly.

It was announced during the meeting that Rotary International this week has turned 110 years old.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club heard from LSU Eunice Chancellor Dr. Bill Nunez make a special audio visual presentation. Dr. Willie Buller representing the Ville Platte club made a financial presentation to Dr. Nunez for the 22nd year. This scholarship fund represents a $90,000 endowment from Rotary in Ville Platte. Dr. Nunez, who is retiring in June after serving 19 years, thanked the local club for their annual funding. He also recognized Dr. John Couvillion, former Chancellor. LSU Eunice has been serving the tri parish area for the past 48 years. Due to less funding from the state, the burden of higher tuitions has been falling on the student and their family. Dr. Nunez emphasized that we need to work harder to educate our children and have them stay here instead of moving out of state.

Dr. Nunez gave some statistics for the average student attending LSU E: average age is 22, 71 percent of the students is female, 67 percent is Caucasian, the average ACT score is 19.33; Evangeline Parish students represent 14 percent of the total student population with students from St. Landry and Acadia having a higher percentage.

In other business, Assistant District Governor Yvonne Normand announced that she is working to re establish a club in Mamou.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held its monthly meeting this evening in the Courthouse. President, Ryan Ardoin, began the meeting by announcing he will be enforcing a 2 minute time limit for speaking on subjects on the agenda.

The subject of installing a fire hydrant in the Mill Creek Subdivision, off Chicot Road, came into discussion. Jacob Fusilier and others from the subdivision were in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Fusilier stated during public comments that the subdivision is located ”outside” the city limits and is located one mile North and one mile South of the nearest fire hydrant. He stated that there are 36 houses occupied by couples, children and elderly in the neighborhood and as the situation stands, they would have a delay in receiving fire services if something were to happen. He explained that the neighborhood generates more taxes per household than anywhere else, and asked for help from the police jury to install a hydrant. After much discussion, a motion was passed to allow the subdivision developer to pay half of the cost of the hydrant and to loan Police Juror, Bryan Vidrine, the other half of the cost through the General Fund, with the understanding that the loan/cost will be paid back with an insurance rebate check that will be forthcoming. Mr. Fusilier thanked Mr. Vidrine for all of his help in the matter.

Anna Frank, Director of Section 8, spoke to the Jury and explained that her office is $25,000 in the negative from a build-up of “miscommunications” with Accountant, Amy Buchanan. She explained that the federal government is not paying the cost required to run her office and pointed out that she started in her position seven years ago and has never been in the red before. She requested that the Police Jury loan Section 8 the money to cover the negative balance with the agreement that she will repay the loan. The Jury agreed to the loan, as well as taking on her salary permanently.

The Jury voted and agreed to hire Phil Lemoine as “Risk Manager” for the Parish. He will oversee and evaluate insurance policies as they come up for renewal and advise the Jury as to policy terms and applications. He will be paid $500.00 a month and will report to Donald Bergeron.

Discussion began on repairs at the Parish Jail. Donald Bergeron reported that water has been restored to all cells, except #5. Reports have been made to all broken light fixtures and are now being “vandalized proofed”. They were broken and damaged by prisoners. It was announced that anyone caught destroying items in the Jail can be charged with Criminal Damage to Property. The Jury voted in favor of replacing the broken stove/ovens with a new one costing $4,800.00 as well as a garbage disposal in the amount of $3,600.00.

Police Juror, Lamar Johnson, requested an $80,000.00 loan from the General Fund to overlay TC/Glenmora Hwy and part of Earl DeVille Road. The Jury voted in favor of the loan to be repaid $40,000.00 in January of 2016 and $40,000.00 in January of 2017.

Police Juror, Kenny Burgess asked the Jury to pass a resolution regarding support of Veteran’s contributions. They Jury unanimously agreed to recognize all military holidays in the parish. Mr. Burgess pointed out that “Not many people realize this but we have a Pearl Harbor Veteran living in our Parish. Mr. Celestine lives in a nursing home in Mamou.” He said we also have many other veteran’s from WWII, The Korean War and other battles fought.

Public Works Director, Chester Granger, said he was called to the “Mamou Yard” Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. where someone had broken in. The same weekend, in Region A, someone stole 67 gallons of diesel. He is urging the Policy Jury to install surveillance cameras at the Yards. Discussion will continue on this matter.

And finally, Donald Bergeron reported that the 2% Sales Tax Collections for December were $338,392.71. That is a 19% increase from last year.

The Evangeline Parish School Board held its bi-monthly meeting tonight in the Media Center. There was an Executive Committee Meeting held on January 27th where the topic of an announcement made in the media regarding students’ option not to participate in the state testing. Superintendent, Toni Hamlin brought the subject up and because it is not mentioned in State Law 17:24, the subject could become critical. There would be no penalty to the student, but teachers, schools and districts would be penalized. A school would receive a “0” for every student not tested, which would be disastrous for the School Performance Scores. This was a topic for discussion and information at this time.

During the regular Board Meeting, Mr. Vic Slaven gave the Audit Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. He gave the Board a “Very Clean Report”. Board Member, Nancy Hamlin, said she was very proud of the schools, Central Office and Amy Lafleur, Chief Financial Officer for their hard work.

Discussion then turned to the renewal of the First Student transportation contract. The issue had been discussed in the Executive Committee Meeting wherein a “Five Year Renewal” was rejected and a “Three Year Renewal” was accepted. When presented to the Board, there was debate back and forth as to whether the contract needed to go out for bid rather than just renewed, especially that the amount of the contract is in the millions and the highest paid contract the School Board has. Board Member, Mike Fontenot expressed it would be “fiscally responsible to our constituents and our students to put it out for bid in hopes of saving money.” The Board voted 5 to 6 in favor of putting the contract out for bid. Work on the bidding process will now begin.

Assistant Superintendent, Darwan Lazard spoke regarding repairs and projects being performed at all of our schools. He pointed out that he has a small group performing the work, but they have done a very good job and have completed approximately 188 work orders from October 11, 2014 through January 7, 2015.

He reported that they did come across an “unsafe situation” at James Stephens. They were receiving complaints from those in the neighborhood and had a problem with an emergency vehicle not being able to get through. This is in the area where the parents line up to drop off and pick up the children. They are preparing a new route in the rear of the school for new pickup. They have placed limestone, extended a canopy and sidewalk. New signage will be going up. James Stevens Drive will become a 1-way from 7-9:00 A.M. and from 2-4:00 P.M. and Peach Street will become a one-way to the East for part of the day. A letter will be sent home to parents regarding the changes.

There will be a Superintendent’s Committee Meeting for support personal at 2:00 P.M. tomorrow at the Central Office.

Vidrine Elementary was recognized by KATC for being a “Cool School” due to their donations of books to children’s hospitals.

And we close on a good note, Pine Prairie High School Student Jamie Jenkins was awarded 1st Place in the Cover Art Contest by the Louisiana Council for Exceptional Children. Congratulations from KVPI!

KVPI and the Ville Platte area will be visited by Richard Fausset, a reporter with the New York Times,on Monday through Wednesday. He will be working on a feature story on our Cajun/Creole culture and especially KVPI’s French language programming. Fausset first heard about us as he was visiting South La. A few years ago whne he came across our La Tasse de Café program. KVPI has been programming French language programming since we signed on in 1953 and we are one of the very few radio stations still programming these specialty programs to preserve and support our special Cajun/Creole culture and heritage.

The Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting today at noon at Nick’s on Main. There was a very nice turnout of Chamber members. KVPI’s Jenn Meylian and Stephanie Ware of The 2 Non-Blonde’s Café were special guest speakers and they spoke about their broadcasting careers and the birth and growth of their morning show. Winky Aucoin, Lyndsey Young and Tony Davoren with Prairie Heritage, LLC were also guest speakers and spoke about the upcoming event “Le Grand Hurrah” to be held at Chicot State Park on April 10th and 11th. They are working very hard to make this a grand event and ask that everyone support their efforts in putting it all together. It’s a great event for our area.

Executive Director, Camille Fontenot announced that the Christmas Parade was a great success and was happy that they were able to get the Coca-Cola truck this year. She thanked those and City Hall and Mayor, Jennifer Vidrine, for helping with those efforts. She also thanked Clerk of Court, Randy Deshotel, for the use of his beautiful home for the After Hours chamber event. She announced that the Chamber Banquet is going to be held April 29th at the Ville Platte Civic Center. At that time, the Man & Woman of the Year, Agriculturer of the Year along with other awards will be given.

Chamber Member, Susan Fisher with St. Landry – Evangeline United Way, announced that the Women with Heart event will be held at the Opelousas Civic Center on February 6th. She also announced that the Harley Ambassadors will again be visiting Pine Prairie and Ville Platte High School on February 11th speaking with 4th, 5th and 6th graders about “real life and how to make smart choices”.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Kelli Landry, a case worker with The Family Tree Information, Education and Counseling Center in Lafayette. Kelly is involved in the “Healthy Start” program, a federally funded program designed to reduce infant mortality. The program targets high risk African American women who are pregnant or who have young children.

The program is designed to help women in Evangeline, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberville and Acadia parishes. She reported that the infant mortality rate in Evangeline Parish is at 9 percent which is three times the national average. She is currently going to the library, health unit and other public places to meet with women in need. The program also assists with depression screening, anger management and basic health.

Rotary Club President Elect Mitch Fontenot reported on last weekend’s Mid Year Assembly for Rotary District 6200. He announced that the annual District Conference is scheduled for April 16-18 in Crowley and urged rotary members to attend.

Evangeline Parish- On January 16, 2015, shortly before 5:00 a.m., Louisiana State Police Troop I responded to a crash on LA Highway 13 north of LA Highway 374 that claimed the life of a Eunice man.

The preliminary investigation revealed that 64-year-old Keith Stakes of Eunice, LA was walking in the southbound travel lane, when he was struck by a 1996 Chevrolet Silverado driven by 46-year-old Billy Hubbard of Ville Platte, La.

Stakes was transported to a local hospital where he later died as a result of his injuries. Hubbard and his passenger were wearing seat belts and were not injured.

Toxicology samples were taken from Stakes and were submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Hubbard submitted to a chemical test and was not impaired.

Supervisor, Linda Lafleur, addressed the board with proposed changes to the “Remediation” program for 4th and 8th grade students. The Board approved the change of making the remediation period 4 days in May instead of the 6 days leading into June as it is now. Normal Summer School will remain the same.

Chief Financial Officer, Amy Lafleur, gave the sales tax comparison and reported that collections for the month of December of the 2014-15 school year were $548,027.73 compared to $455,345.25 for the 2013-2014 school year. That is an increase of $92,682.48.

Again, discussions turned to the PARC Assessment and the Common Core program as the Board was presented with two Resolutions from other parishes asking the State of Louisiana to grant a moratorium on sanctions being imposed if a school district is not ready in time for the PARC testing (St. Mary Parish School Board); and asking the State to remove itself from the Common Core Standards and charge the Louisiana Board of Education with developing a new standard (St. Tammany Parish School Board). After discussions were had, the Board adopted the Resolutions. They will have no effect on Evangeline Parish.

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin, congratulated newest Board Member, Mike Fontenot from the Mamou area for being with the Board. She also announced the first Executive Committee meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27th at 2:00 p.m. in the Media Center. Peggy Foremen has agreed to head that committee again this year. This Friday will be a staff development day so educators can continue to receive up-to-date training.

Ms. Hamlin also congratulated Mamou High School for receiving two grants this week. The School received a $5,000.00 grant from Lowe’s Home Improvement for beautification and improvement to the campus; and also a $1,000.00 grant from the new Walmart Express newly opened in Mamou.

The Ville Platte City Council held its monthly meeting this evening at City Hall. Mayor, Jennifer Vidrine, officially welcomed the newest member of the City Council, Bryant Riggs, and presented him with his official name plate.

Jumping forward to the end of the meeting, Mayor Vidrine and the council surprised Councilman, C.J. Dardeau with a cake, plaque and celebration for not only his 79th birthday for his 38 years as as a public servant. His family was there to surprise him as well.

CPA, Vic Slaven reported good news to the Council and the Mayor by announcing his findings during the recent city audit. The Mayor and Council were very pleased when he reported a surplus of $512,906.00. The good news kept coming as the Mayor reported expenditures for the month of December were $164,491.08 compared to $189,013.58 for the month of November. The city spent $24,522.50 less in December. The Mayor thanked all of the City Hall staff and supervisors for doing such a great job and doing what they needed to.

The Summer Feeding Program will take place again this year for any child age 1 – 18. It will start the 1st Monday in June and will take place daily at Ville Platte High School. The City sponsors the program; however, spends no funds on it as they receive grant money to fund the program. No one will be required to fill out any paperwork in order to take advantage of the program and there will be buses on both sides of town to pick children up to go and eat, and then bring them back.

The Mayor and City Council congratulated and presented a plaque to Carlton “Duece” Doucet for his 16 years of faithful service as a city employee. “Duece” retired in November.

There were two donations presented to the Mayor for The Boys & Girls Club. The first came in the amount of $200.00 from the Evangeline Community Theatre who are celebrating their third anniversary this month; and the second was in the amount of $100.00 from the Veterans Foreign War. The Mayor reminds everyone that you can always go online and make donations at cityofvilleplatte.com. Go to The Boys & Girls Club and it will allow you to make donations. In order to gain a charter from The Boys & Girls Club of America, there is a requirement to have $150,000.00 in the bank.

There were some very happy employees in the council chamber this evening, as the council approved the holiday schedule for 2015, which included an extra holiday which is Christmas Eve Day. That brings their total paid vacation days to 16. They were also excited when the council approved a 3% pay raise for all employees, and that includes part-timers. The Mayor stated: “For the last four years, we have been able to provide an increase and our employees are working hard.” There was also council approval for Longevity Pay for those employees with the city five years of more of service. That bonus comes in a separate check.

Prairie Heritage, Inc., was granted a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement for an event being scheduled at Chicot State Park called “HOORAH”. The event is planned for April 10th & 11th.

City Engineer, Ronnie Landreneau, reported that they have just about wrapped Phase II of the water project and are now patching the holes in the streets that were created to do the work.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard special classification talks from three new members of the organization. All three were born and raised in Ville Platte, moved away and now have moved back to their home town.

Chris Ludeau, an attorney has been practicing law for the past two years in Lafayette. He is a graduate of the LSU Law School and Sacred Heart High School.

Nick Monier, a 28 year old attorney, is a graduate of Sacred Heart, LSU and Loyola. He opened his practice last year here in Ville Platte. His grandfather is well known Ville Platte Barber Allen Monier.

Nicole Wenger, a native of Ville Platte, graduated from UL-Lafayette and moved to the West Coast where she met her husband. After moving several more times, her family moved back two years ago to Ville Platte where they provide emergency services to homes damaged by fire, water and mold. Her grandfather is the late Van Ortego, long time post office employee.

Rotary Club President David Mayeaux showed off the new Rotary Club road signs that will be placed at various entrances into Ville Platte.

He also announced that the annual Mid Year District Conference for the Rotary District 6200 is scheduled for this Saturday in Lafayette.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held its monthly meeting this evening in the courthouse. The Jury unanimously agreed to keep Ryan Ardoin as President of the Jury and Ryan Ledet Williams as Vice President of the Jury for the 2015 term. They also agreed to continue to hold their monthly meetings on the second Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Police Jury room. Committee meetings will be held the 1st Monday of the month at 5:00 p.m., also in the Police Jury room.

The Jury also voted to appoint Todd Welsh as the replacement for the deceased Louis B. Johnson in Waterworks District #1, and after receiving a recommendation from Mamou Gravity Drainage Board #5, agreed to appoint Kerry G. Fontenot to replace Minerva Baker on the Board.

There was much discussion regarding a recommended pay increase for the staff at the Police Jury Office, which includes 5 full-time and 1 part-time employee. Secretary/Treasurer, Donald Bergeron stated “Last year, the Police Jury was unable to fund pay raises for the staff. I instructed the staff to look at incoming bills and any place they thought we could cut back, and bring it to our attention. The staff worked hard and was able to cut spending through contract negotiations, a cut in insurance rates and questioning bills.” The discussion included giving raises to all of the road crews as well, but not all of the information was available to grant those during this meeting. The Jury voted to reward the office staff with $1.00/hr. raise, as well as to Region A & B for the road crews. Regions C & D will be discussed during the next meeting, and if the Jury elects to give those raises as well, the Jury would make the raises retroactive.

President, Ryan Ardoin, also brought of the issue of a Police Jury ordinance that requires the Jury to be responsible for stray, nuisance and/or possibly dangerous animals when alerted to same. The Jury agreed to get with other parishes and towns who currently have animal shelters in order to gain information regarding the legality of specifics required for a facility, the expense to build and maintain a facility in our area so there can be animal control.

Stemming from the last meeting, the Limestone bid has been awarded to Jody Cloud Trucking in Turkey Creek.

And, finally, according to Secretary/Treasurer, Donald Bergeron, the 2% sales tax collected in the month of December for the month of November was $321,456.38, an increase of 49.18%.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from LSU Ag Center 4-H Agent Todd Fontenot discuss the 4-H program. The 4-H Program is a youth development program with 800 members enrolled from the 4th grade through the 12th grade. The young people learn important life skills. He explained for example that the livestock program teaches 4-H students to be responsible for their animals, build self confidence and self esteem.

He announced that the parish livestock show is January 22-24 where some 120 exhibitors will be participating at the Chauncey Pitre Ag Arena. The Jr. Market Animal Sale will be held Saturday January 24.

Todd Fontenot was the special guest of Rotarian Bill Brunet.

In other rotary news, it was announced that the club currently 54 members. Vice President Mitch Fontenot announced that the District 6200 Rotary Mid Year Assembly will be held January 17.

An appeals court panel issued a ruling today upholding a lower court decision against a challenge against Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue. The ruling released this morning by a panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Judges Gene Thibodeaux, Jimmie Peters and James Genovese.

Linton Fontenot and Glenn LeLeux had filed a lawsuit challenging the residency requirements for Ville Platte Chief of Police Neal Lartigue. 13th Judicial District Court Judge Thomas Fuselier had ruled against the plaintiffs saying the challenge was too late. The time period to challenge a candidate is during the qualifying period. No challenge was made.Both Fontenot and LeLeux , former candidates for chief of police, filed an appeal with the Third Circuit.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury opened up a public hearing tonight at 5:15 to allow anyone who would like to speak regarding the proposed amendments to the 2014 Budget and the proposed 2015 Budget. No one chose to speak during public comments.

President, Ryan Ardoin, then opened the Special Meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer. The police jury approved the 2014 Amended Budgets and discussion began on the proposed 2015 Budget. Police Juror, Bryan Vidrine, made a few adjustments in the budget by increasing funding to the Chip and Seal projects in Wards 4 and 5, as well as including funding for a “dog pound” which would cost approximately $700,000.00 to build. The Jury then approved the 2015 Budget, along with the Acadiana Crime Lab Budget. They also adopted the Capital Outlay Plan for 2015-2017, and they adopted the “Monitoring Plan Resolution”.

One of the items on the agenda was the discuss appointing an “Agent of Record” for Workers Compensation Insurance. Phil Lemoine and Allan Farr both spoke before the Jury and told of their experience and offered ways to save the Jury money on their insurance. There was much discussion between the Jury members as to whether an Agent of Record was needed and how it would benefit them compared to how things are now. Juror, Bryan Vidrine said he did not think it was a service needed right now and that “Our staff does the work and I don’t see what anyone else is going to do different.” Lamar Johnson suggested waiting 6-8 weeks to see other proposals. Ultimately, Vice President, Ryan Williams made a motion to appoint Phil Lemoine as the Agent of record for the term of one year to start and a cap on commission of $2,500.00. Juror, Rocky Rider, seconded the motion and the majority of the Police Jury passed the motion.

The Jury also awarded low bids to the following contractors in their respective category: J&J Exterminating, Guillory Oil Co., Inc., Jody Cloud, Louisiana CAT, Asphalt Products, and Coastal Culvert out of Eunice. The low bid for Limestone will be announced January 12th.

Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue reports the following information and will update when more information is available.

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On Tuesday December 23,2014 At approximately 10:30 pm Officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 600 block of North Chataignier. Upon arrival officers found a male with a gunshot wound in the upper part of his leg. The victim was transported by Acadian Ambulance for medical treatment and later released. Chief Lartigue stated that they have one suspect in custody and the investigation is ongoing.

If you have any information regarding this or any other illegal activity, you are asked to call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

According to the Magnolia Garden Club, here are the results of the Christmas Lighting Contest in Ville Platte:

The Overall Christmas Award Winner was given to Dr. and Mrs. Dale Reed at 1568 East Main;

The Christmas Spirit Award Winner for Overall Lighting was awarded to Billy Rich at 304 North Coreil;

The Christmas Spirit Appreciation Award went to the Ludeau Family residence on LaSalle street;

Also the Christmas Spirit award went to the Jay Aswell family residence at 1110 LaSalle street;

The Civic Award winner was La Belle Maison at 523 West Main;

Another Christmas Spirit Award went to the Kermit Miller residence at 210 Pecan Street and the Chris Briley home at 706 West Magnolia Street. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Christmas Lighting contest.

As a follow up to the December 17th press release which involved the shooting of a man on East Beech Street, Chief Lartigue has stated that two men have been arrested. A warrant of arrest was issued on December 20, 2014 on the following suspects:

Kwan Divinski Anderson 30 of 1930 Marshal Frank Drive, Ville Platte was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. Anderson was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail and his bond was set at $200,000.00 by Judge John Larry Vidrine. Anderson was later transported to the Evangeline Parish Jail where he remains incarcerated.

Willie A. Jones 23 of 516 Rev. E.D. Alfred Street, Ville Platte was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. Jones was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail and his bond was set at $200,000.00 by Judge John Larry Vidrine. Jones was later transported to the Evangeline Parish Jail where he remains incarcerated.

Chief Lartigue stated that the case is still under investigation and more arrests are possible. If anyone has any information regarding this case or any other illegal activity, you are asked to call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing the lawsuit asking the court to throw out the results of the December 6 election because the Ville Platte Chief of Police does not reside in Ville Platte. Police chief candidates Linton Fontenot and Glenn LeLeux are the plaintiffs against Police Chief Neal Lartigue who was re elected December 6.

A hearing on the lawsuit was heard Thursday afternoon in 13th Judicial District Court with Judge Tom Fuselier presiding. No witnesses were called. The court heard from both attorneys: Walter Clawson representing the plaintiffs and Brent Coreil representing Chief Lartigue.

Judge Fuselier ruled against the plaintiffs saying they waited too long to file their challenge. The law states candidacy challenges must be filed within 7 days after qualifying.

Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel confirmed to KVPI News that an appeal has been filed in his office today. The appeal will be hand delivered to the Appeal’s Court in Lake Charles on Monday. Due to the Christmas holiday break, the case will probably be heard Monday December 29

13th Judicial District Court Judge Thomas Fuselier Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Linton Fontenot and Glenn LeLeux against Ville Platte Chief of Police Neal Lartigue. Fontenot and LeLeux were candidates in the race for Chief of Police in Ville Platte in which incumbent Neal Lartigue won re-election. The lawsuit challenged the residency of Lartigue that he currently resides out of town. Judge Fuselier said the time had expired over challenging the residency requirements of a political candidate. The plaintiffs should have filed the challenge within seven days of the qualifying period. No witnesses were heard. The attorney representing the plaintiffs was Walter Clawson. The attorney representing Neal Lartigue was Brent Coreil.

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from Leonard Fontenot who spoke on Rotary Foundation and Paul Harris Fellows. A Paul Harris Fellow is a designation given to Rotarians who contribute $1000 to the Rotary Foundation. The Foundation is the giving arm of Rotary International that helps people all around the world. Their main emphasis is the total eradication of Polio around the world. Fontenot explained that the Ville Platte club assists 2 members each year become a Paul Harris fellow by matching half of the cost or $500 to Rotary International.

It was announced that the Sacred Heart Interact Club raised about $300 in their recent fund raiser for Rotary International.

The Ville Platte City Council held its monthly meeting tonight (Tuesday) at City Hall.

City Hall and the Council Room are beautifully decorated for the holidays. Mayor, Jennifer Vidrine, reported her staff was responsible for the gorgeous Christmas decorating and as of tonight, there are 55 Christmas trees throughout City Hall. She invited everyone to bring the family and come and walk through. Feel free to take pictures for the holidays. It is well worth the trip!

The Mayor was happy to report that November expenditures came in at $189,013.58, and that is down $21,038.37 from the month of October, when expenditures were $210,051.95.

She was also pleased to announce that the Sales Tax Comparison is UP 19.2% from this time last year. The Mayor thanked everyone for shopping locally and especially thanked business owners for having the type of businesses that make people want to stay in our area and shop.

More good news from the meeting…Helping Hands made a donation and presented a check to Mayor Vidrine for the Boys & Girls Club in the amount of $1,000.00; and Reverend Matthew Alfred, Jr. and members of his congregation at the Eastern Seventh District Baptist Association presented the mayor with a donation to the Boys & Girls Club for $1,225.00. City Engineer reports that modified plans have been submitted to the Fire Marshall’s office in hopes that they will be able to open the Boys & Girls Club soon.

Councilman, Taranza Arvie, was recognized for his 8 years on the council and his service to the people of his district and Ville Platte. Councilman Arvie commented saying “I never considered myself a politician, only a public servant. I will continue to work in the community, and I thank you for allowing me to serve.”

The council approved a resolution to approach the Evangeline Parish School Board about “studying and exploring” having a French Immersion program put into our schools. The mayor reported they have been working with Codofil to help promote French Immersion in Ville Platte. She said “We are doing this to help keep our French culture going.”

Also, the council voted to approve a $50,000 application for a LGAP grant to move forward with the Master Plan at the Northside Civic Center. This grant would be used for basketball courts and then they will move onto other aspects such as walking trail, water park splash pad and playground equipment. They should know something about the approval sometime around the beginning of the legislative session.

It was announced that the new Mayor Pro-Temp will now be Councilman, Jerry Joseph.

The council approved the hiring of two full-time and two part-time police officers for the Ville Platte City Police Department. They also approved the painting of a new mural inside the MLK Center reflecting black history makers. They hope to have the mural finished by February, which is Black History Month.

Phase II of the Water Project is finishing up. They are currently “killing old lines that are still leaking”, and dressing up areas from earlier projects.

The Mayor announced there will be an Ethics meeting on Monday, December 15th at 10:00 a.m. City Hall will be closed from 9:30 a.m. until Noon so employees can attend. The mayor invites any governmental employee in the parish to attend and reminds employees ethics training is mandatory every year. You can contact City Hall for more information.

The Mayor said on behalf of herself and the City Council, “Merry Christmas, and we hope you all pass a good time!”

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury today (Tuesday) held their December meeting at the courthouse and it was conducted in the French language. There was a standing room only crowd of VIP’s, Public Officials and special guests watched as Police Juror Eric Soileau conducted the meeting. KVPI’s Jim Soileau led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance while Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel offered the opening prayer. The entire meeting was broadcast live over KVPI 1050 AM.

Gilbert “Winky” Aucoin , who spearheaded the Folk Roots Festival at Chicot Park for the past several years, announced that he and a group of young musicians are forming a new cultural organization. The aim of the group is to have a yearly festival at Chicot Park in April something similar to what Folk Roots was doing. If the group is successful, they plan to help fund a French Immersion program and to support Cajun and Creole music in Evangeline Parish.

Charles Larocque, Director of Codofil commended the police jury in their efforts to have an annual all French meeting. “You appreciate the value of our heritage. We must recover our language. We want to encourage our young people to stay here in Evangeline Parish and South Louisiana and not move to Houston, Atlanta and other major cities out of state,” he said. He announced that Codofil will have an office in Ville Platte at City Hall.

The police jury approved a resolution offered by State Senator Eric Lafleur requesting the Evangeline Parish School Board to consider implementing a French immersion school. Lafleur said Evangeline Parish, despite having the largest bi-lingual population in the state , is the only parish in Acadiana without a French immersion school.

The police jury:

--approved applying for a $100,000 grant in Community Development Block funds to provide additional security measures at the courthouse and the police jury offices.

--appointed Gerald Duplechain to replace Wade Riley on the Parish Library board and appointed Glen Holden to replace Johnny Deshotel on the Industrial Development Board;

KVPI General Manager Mark Layne announced today that Stephanie Ware has been named as News Director for KVPI AM and FM.

Layne announced that Ware has been covering all of the governmental meetings for both radio stations for the past three months. In addition, she has been doing interviews with news makers and covered KVPI election returns.

“We’re proud of her talents in such a short time with us and we felt it was time to give her the recognition she has earned by naming her News Director for both KVPI AM and FM”, said Layne.

Well, the elections are finally over and the voters once again have spoken. Before we get to the results here locally, we would like to thank everyone who got out and voted in the primary and run-off elections.

Stephanie Ware and Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court, Randy Deshotel covered the elections tonight and here are the final results:

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled today in the law suit filed by Turkey Creek Mayor Heather Miley Cloud who lost in the November Primary election by four votes to her opponent Bert Keith Campbell. She had filed a lawsuit claiming fraud was involved in the election and she had documents from at least four residents who said they were paid to vote for Campbell. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed the trial court’s judgment dismissing the lawsuit. The Appeals Court also strikes the four illegal votes declaring a tie between the two candidates and ordered the trial court judge, Judge Joel Davis of Allen Parish, to set a new election date to be held. The Appeals Court Judges who ruled in the matter were Sylvia Cooks, Billy Ezell and Phyllis Keaty. The attorneys for Mayor Cloud are Anne Watson and Elbert Guillory of Opelousas while the attorneys for Campbell are Wendel Fuselier of Ville Platte.and Ray Rush of Oakdale.

Despite a cold wind blowing for most of the morning hours but improving weather conditions in the afternoon, the 2014 Food For Families Food Drive conducted by KLFY TV 10 and Food Net was a success throughout the Acadiana drop off points including Evangeline Parish. Here in Evangeline Parish the drop off points were the Civic Center Pavillion in Ville Platte and in Mamou at St. Ann Church parking Lot. On behalf of everyone at Christian Care and Center, thank you for your food and monetary donations. About 5 tons of food and over $1500 in monetary donations was collected in Ville Platte which is slightly less than last year. However Care and Share Center officials are expecting additional donations today for those who did not have the opportunity.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Mike Fontenot and Johnny Carrier of the Opelousas Lighthouse Ministry, a faith based 32 bed homeless shelter for men. Fontenot said 90 percent of the men that come to the shelter are referred from hospitals, prisons, additions or job loss. The facility is structured and has a strict set of rules. All men are required to do some of job while they reside at the shelter. The average length of stay ranges from 2-4 months. The goal is to return the men to become self sustaining. The facility includes a working garden and green house , computers and transportation support. The two were special guests of Rotarian Dr. Ted Ardoin.

Rotarians were reminded that the Rotary Wheel and Interact Club students will be participating in the Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade this Sunday at 5;30pm.

The annual Rotary Christmas social is planned for next Tuesday Dec. 9 at 6:00pm at Nicks on Main.

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from Ville Platte Housing Executive Director Grant Soileau. He reported the Housing Authority was first established in the early 50’s with a five member board selected by the mayor. The first grant developed 90 housing units: 70 on North Dupre and 20 on South Dupre streets. The Housing Authority employs 8 full time employees and 4 part time workers. The federal agency that oversees housing authorities grades the local authorities on management, financing and maintenence. The Ville Platte agency currently has a 93 grade which is considered high performer. The Housing Authority today oversees 218 rental units. There are 578 people living in the units at the present time. Soileau says he expects more and more cuts from the federal government. Soileau was the special guest of Rotarian Peggy Tate.

In other business, the Club:

--was notified that the annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade will roll down main street Sunday Dec. 7 at 5:30. The Coca Cola Christmas truck will run in the parade. Also the Ville Platte Rotary wheel will be displayed in the parade;

--received news that the annual Rotary Club Christmas social will be held Dec. 9 at 6;00pm at Nicks on Main

KVPI Sports Update
KVPI Sports will be airing the Basile High-LaSalle High game Friday night at 7:00pm live from Basile over Classic Hits 92.5 and on the web at oldies925.com with KVPI Sports Announcer Tracey Jagneaux. Our game coverage will begin with the pre game at 6:45 and the S.E.C. report kicks off at 6:30pm. No LSu game this weekend. Their next game which he final game of the regular season: LSU will play Texas A and M Thanksgiving night and we plan to carry the game Sunday night.

The Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce today (Wednesday) heard from Rhonda and Frank Butler with Gobble Gully Paintball in Turkey Creek. Rhonda Butler told chamber members that the park has only been open for four months and the turnout has been overwhelming with visitors from a 70-80 mile radius. They are the first paintball facility in the country using low impact paint ball guns. The owners are looking at expanding the facility since they are only using five of the 20 acres they own. Packages start at $29 on up and they accommodate up to 300 people per day. They are open Friday and Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.

In other action, Dr. William “Tojo” Ward said he was pleased to announce that after three years of litigation against Pine Prairie Energy, the lawsuit has been thrown out. He said “We are ready to move forward and remove the dark cloud over economic development in Evangeline Parish”. He announced that Pine Prairie Energy has donated $10,000 while Walmart has donated $500 to the Industrial Development Board.

In other business, Chamber Executive Director Camille Fontenot reported that the Chamber Christmas social is scheduled for December 4 at the Randy Deshotel home on Three Sisters road;

The annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade is planned for December 7 at 5:30 with line up at Citizens Bank. She reminded those wishing to enter a unit in the parade they must have it lighted. No four wheelers will be permitted. The Coca Cola Santa Claus truck will be riding in the parade.

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte heard from Ginger LeCompte and Susan Fisher with St. Landry-Evangeline United Way. They discussed the various programs and services offered to groups in Evangeline and St. Landry Parishes. It was announced that the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team will be coming into Ville Platte for an assembly with 4th, 5th and 6th grade school students on Feb. 11 and playing a game against a team being selected by Mayor Jennifer Vidrine. United Way assists in areas of education, income , Health and Disaster Relief. They were the special guests of Rotarian Mark Sullentrop.

Club President David Mayeaux announced that the annual Rotary Club Christmas social will be held Dec. 9 at Nicks on Main.

Three new members have applied to join the group: Steve Williams with Union Tank and Attorneys Nick Monier and Chris Ludeau.

The club members heard Mayeaux:

--announce that distribution boxes prepared by the Sacred Heart Interact Club need to be displayed in club member’s places of business to get donations to the Rotary Foundation to help eradicate polio from around the world;

--explain that the new Rotary Club Face Book page is up and running to help build awareness of the local club.

A lawsuit was dismissed in 13th Judicial District Court this morning challenging the election outcome in the Turkey Creek mayor’s race. Turkey Creek Mayor Heather Miley Cloud filed the suit challenging the election results that shows that Bert Keith Campbell won by four votes, 110-106 votes. The suit challenged the results since the mayor had affidavits of four voters who testified that they sold their votes for $15.

The court was nearly packed while Judge Joel Davis of Allen Parish dismissed the lawsuit. Judge Davis met with all of the attorneys on both sides in a pre trial conference. He cited a supreme court decision, “Savage vs. Edwards” that stated that district court judges should not interfere or change the results of an election. The plaintiffs are appealing the decision to the Third Circuit. The higher court can either sustain the lower court ruling and throw out the lawsuit or reverse the court ruling and remand the case back to the court for a full hearing and trial.

A lawsuit has been filed in 13th District Court on Wednesday by Turkey Creek Mayor Heather Miley Cloud, contesting the results of the November 4 election. KVPI News obtained a copy of the lawsuit today at the Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court’s office.

The election results showed that her opponent Bert Keith Campbell received 110 votes and incumbent Mayor Heather Cloud received 106 votes, a difference of four votes. Cloud is suing her opponent Bert Keith Campbell on fraud charges. Also named in the lawsuit was Secretary of State Tom Shedler.

The suit included four affidavits of voters who testify that they sold their votes to vote for defendant Bert Keith Campbell in which they were given $15 per vote along with a piece of paper with Campbell’s voting number. In addition, one of the voters was promised to lead the Turkey Creek Christmas parade and another was promised a new bicycle. All four voters testified that otherwise they would have voted for Mayor Cloud

The lawsuit is asking the court that four of the votes for Campbell were illegal and fraudulent and add those four votes to the plaintiff’s total. By adding those four votes, the court should declare the plaintiff, Heather Cloud , the winner of the election for the position of Mayor in Turkey Creek.

The attorneys for Mayor Cloud are Anne Watson and Elbert Guillory of Opelousas. The court hearing is set for 9:00am Monday in Courtroom B before a judge from out of the parish. Both local district court judges have recuse themselves to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

KVPI contacted Bert Campbell regarding the lawsuit. He commented "As far as I am concerned, there was no vote buying. I know nothing of this and I beat Ms. Cloud because I went out and signed up 30 new registered voters." He denies the allegations and said " I never offered anyone money for a vote. I worked hard for two months and that is how I won." Mr. Campbell has not seen the lawsuit as of this afternoon.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held its monthly meeting tonight (Monday) in the courthouse.

Police Jury President, Ryan Arduino, announced the formation of a Courthouse Emergency Committee being formed. Along with Liz Hill, others will be asked to join the committee. The jury will be looking at finding a representative from the Police Department, Sheriff’s office, Fire Department as well as someone from DHH. The committee will discuss and make plans of what to do when the courthouse is in an emergency situation.

The Jury voted to schedule the next meeting in “French” to be held on Tuesday, December 9th at 2:00 p.m. Also, there will be a public hearing at 5:15 on December 29th followed by a special meeting at 5:30 to amend the 2014 budgets and adopt the 2015 budgets.

Public Works Director, Chester Granger, reported that the drainage crews have been in Chatagnier but were stopped due to an equipment breakdown. A hydraulic pump had to be replaced before work could continue.

Parish Engineer, Ronnie Landreneau, reported that the long awaited Morgan Road project will begin. The pipe is on the site and other materials have been ordered. He expects it to be complete within a couple of weeks.

He also said that the Crooked Creek pavilion is finished and they now need to find a project there to use the excess $9,000.00. They will be exploring that.

Secretary-Treasurer, Donald Bergeron, announced the “Budget Date” for November 20th at 8:00 a.m. and encouraged anyone to come and attend. He also announced that the 2% collections were $271,479.04, which was 2.66% down from last year which he said was “not too bad.”

And, the jury voted to appoint Bryan Vidrine to the Board of the Acadian Resource and Conservation Council.

The Ville Platte Police Department is looking for a runaway from the Gabriel Villa Apartment complex. Olshimer McCoy was last seen on Friday November 7, 2014 at approximately 7:30 in the evening. He is described as a black male approximately 5’9. He is 15 years old and has his hair cut into a Mohawk. He was last seen wearing a yellow LSU hoodie and camouflage cargo shorts. He has run away before and is possibly hiding in the Ville Platte area. If you have any information on this juveniles whereabouts, you are asked to call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313.

The Evangeline Parish School Board held its bi-monthly meeting tonight (Wednesday) in the Media Center.

The Board voted on a 2 year extension of Superintendent, Toni Hamlin’s contract. 8 voted for the extension and 3 were opposed. Board Member, Wayne Dardeau, stated his opposition was not against Ms. Hamlin, because he believes she is doing a good job, it was because he would like all employees to get a raise, not just one person. Board Member, Anthony Savoy mirrored Mr. Dardeau’s statement. The extension passed.

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin, spoke regarding the School Report Cards. She was very pleased to announce that the parish has gone from a “C” rating to a “B” rating for the 2013-2014 school year. That is quite an accomplishment. She wanted to thank the supervisory staff, the administration at the schools, the teachers and definitely the students. The parish went from 77.6 to 88.7 (which is a B rating). A copy of the report cards will be going out to parents. She was proud to announce that Mamou Elementary went from a “C” rating to an “A” rating and that there has been a really strong strengthening in the graduation rate, especially at Ville Platte High School.

Board Member, Scott Limoges inquired as to what end of the year testing will be used this school year. Ms. Hamlin said that she received notice that grades 3-8 will be a pencil and paper test, but that high school students will be online PARC assessments. Technology is still being installed the schools. Mamou is complete and installation is currently being done at Ville Platte High.

Council to the Board, Bob Hammons, was in attendance at the meeting. He was asked the status of the battle between Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana State Superintendent, John White regarding the Common Core program. Mr. Hammons stated that “So, far…it looks like Mr. White is winning.” He stated that was on a district level and the cases are on their way to the appellate court.

Board Member David Landreneau, who was defeated in his race on Tuesday by Michael Fontenot, thanked the Board, teachers, staff and supervisors for the 30 years of support. He said this is the best staff this parish has ever had, with great principals and a great board. Council members exchanged kind words with Mr. Landreneau as he stated “My wife is very happy with the results of the election.”

The Ville Platte City Council held its monthly meeting tonight (Wednesday) at City Hall. The meeting was held a week early due to the Labor Day holiday.

Connor LeBlue, Secretary of J.A.G., sang a beautiful version of the National Anthem and lead the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance to open the city council meeting.

The Sacred Heart School drop-off/pick-up traffic re-routing was discussed. There was much opposition to the re-routing expressed by parents and others. Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announced that they have had a total of 331 parties against the re-routing and 0 for it. Initially, when the plan/map was brought before the council, the Mayor asked if the plan had been presented to parents for their input. It had not been and the administration of the school said it would be sent out to parents and a meeting would be called. That did not happen and the Mayor said she has continued to gain information stating the plan, which includes using city streets, would be changed beginning Monday by the Administrator, without the approval of the council or Mayor.

Mayor Vidrine stated: “I find it disrespectful to the Mayor, the council, the parents, grandparents and residents in the area to attempt to circumvent us in any attempt to use city streets for any change. We will not be bullied or dictated to. We are happy to sit down with parents and/or the administrator of the school, but this plan will not be approved. Any re-routing plan that affects our city streets or blocks, or impedes our businesses on Main Street will not be approved. We will make sure we have officers in place Monday to ensure there is no re-routing attempted.” She also said that if there are any plans to use the “Rainy Day” Solution for any purpose other than when it is pouring rain outside that will not be permitted.

City Attorney, Greg Vidrine, was asked to send a notice to Sacred Heart in the form of a letter.

On a positive note, the city received a refund check in the amount of $37,137.00 from LWCC. Also, the sales tax collections were up 7.1% from October of last year.

A retail liquor permit was approved for Nick’s (The old Brass Rail), and there are two new businesses that have opened: Tiger Trax and Mia Hacienda.

Mayor Vidrine announced that the “Video” promoting Ville Platte has finally been finished and is now on their website: www.cityofvilleplatte.com The video will air on LPB sometime next year.

Residents can now pay their utility bills online on the same website under utilities.

She also announced that she received notification that the long awaited street sweeper will be delivered in January.

Despite a very long ballot, all of the returns in Evangeline Parish were announced by 10:00 Tuesday night. Here are the complete but unofficial election returns as reported over KVPI FM compliments of Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel.

In the District Judge’s race, Division A, Gary Ortego defeated all of his challengers with 53 percent of the vote. Ortego received 6448 votes while his opponents, Tony Dupre received 2985 votes and Gilbert Aucoin got 2548 votes.

In the Ward One City Judge’s race, there will be a runoff between the top vote getter Betsy Jackson who got 2110 votes and Greg Vidrine who got 1831 votes. The next challenger was Alex Sonny Chapman who received 1170 votes and Kathy Fontenot Meyers with 1090 votes.

In the school board district seat, challenger Mike Fontenot defeated incumbent David Landreneau. Fontenot received 506 votes to Landreneau’s 293 votes.

Over in District Seven, the school board incumbent Buck Dupuis narrowly defeated challenger Sheila Joseph by five votes. Dupuis had 477 votes to Joseph’s 472 votes.

In District 8, school board incumbent Wanda Skinner with 519 votes defeated challenger Jackie Doucet who received 385 votes.

For Justice of the Peace in Ward Five, Michael Causey, the incumbent with 834 votes defeated challenger Annette Hazelton Fontenot who received 489 votes.

For Justice of the Peace in Ward Three, Brent Zackery with 1187 votes defeated Wesley Childress with 1077 votes.

For Chief of Police in Ville Platte, Incumbent Neal Lartigue with 1571 votes will go into a runoff with second place finisher Linton Fontenot with 884 votes. Coming in third place was Glenn Leleux with 757 votes.

For Chief of Police in Mamou, there will be a runoff between Katina Richard with 484 votes and Robert McGee who got 421 votes. Coming in third was Allen Noel with 171 votes and Charles Perdices who got 137 votes.

For Chief of Police in Chataignier, Paul Allen Jr., the incumbent was re elected with 105 votes to challenger Bill Ortego’s 78 votes.

For Chief of Police in Turkey Creek, there will be a runoff between Robert Glenn Leggett with 100 votes and Louis Dale Marcantel with 97 votes. Coming in third was Raymond DarDar with 7 votes.

For Alderman in District 1 in Basile Frank Ceasar was re elected with 71 votes over Darrell Reed who got 39 votes.

For Alderman in District 3 in Mamou, there will be a runoff between incumbent Charles Reed with 98 votes and Derryl T Glynn Brunet who got 76 votes. Jodie Gautreaux received 50 votes and Ted Lavergne received 36 votes.

For alderman in District C in Ville Platte, incumbent Mike Perron with 428 votes defeated Anna Frank who received 145 votes.

For Alderman in District D, incumbent Rev., Freddie Jack with 259 votes defeated Lionel Coach Anderson who received 250 votes.

For Alderman in District E in Ville Platte, incumbent Donald Sam with 257 votes will go into a runoff with Jerry Bottley with 182 votes. Earl Edward received 138 votes.

‘ For Alderman in District F in Ville Platte Bryant Riggs with 195 votes will face Shounda Smith Jack in a runoff. Jack received 152 votes while Nat Thomas got 121 votes.

For Alderman in District 2 in Basile, Hunter Ortego with 216 votes will face Bron Dubroc who got 192 votes in a December runoff. Others receiving votes in the race include: Carmen Langley with 161 votes. J.J. Jenkins with 128 votes and Rodney Bellon with 117 votes.

For Alderman in the Village of Chataignier, three to be elected, Debra Fontenot with 112 votes, Joseph Semien with 92 votes and J.B. Brasseaux with 85 votes were all elected. Gail McDavid got 81 votes.

For Alderman in the Village of Turkey Creek where three are to be elected, Kurry Stewart with 164 votes, Billy Neal King Jr with 160 votes and Joey Ducote with 126 votes were all elected. Kenneth Johnson received 106 votes.

For U.S. Senator , Bill Cassidy was the top vote getter with 4798 votes followed by incumbent Mary Landrieu with 4349 votes. Rob Maness was in third place with 2360 votes. Others receiving votes include: Wayne Ables with 244 votes, Thomas Clements with 166 votes, Brannon McMorris with 123 votes, William Waymire with 75 votes and Vallian Senegal with 49 votes.

For Congressman in the Fourth District, incumbent John Fleming easily won in Evangeline Parish. Fleming had 7876 votes and challenger Randall Lord received 2217 votes.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today(Tuesday) heard from Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine give a status report on projects going on in the city.

She announced that the state is installing new digital traffic lights. The first one has just been installed at the intersection of Main and Coreil at no cost to the city.

A new four way stop sign has been installed at the intersection of Lincoln and North Chataignier for motorists wishing to cross over Lincoln. The city is looking at requesting the state to install a traffic light with a turning lane at the intersection of Tate Cove road and the Walmart side street.

Phase three of the city’s water project which deals with replacing lines south of Main street is just getting under way. Main and LaSalle water lines will be replaced in Phase 4 next year.

The city is attempting to fill all of the recommendations from the state fire marshal’s office so it can proceed at beginning a Boy’s and Girl’s Club at the old City Hall location at the corner of Main and Court streets.

Bi lingual city street signs are being printed for various locations in the city. The mayor is getting the assistance of Codofil to help in the French translation of the street signs.

The mayor said she is planning to name an economic development council to help promote economic development to bring more industry and businesses to Ville Platte.

The mayor also told Rotarians: sales tax collections have increased 12 of the past 13 months; City Hall will have an Office for Senior Citizens to assist local seniors who may need information about local and area services; the city is apply for a grant for public transportation; city crews have been stringing 100,000 Christmas lights however they will not be turned on until December 1; the city is working on a master comprehensive plan for Northside Park which will include a water park; city crews are installing a sidewalk on East Main to connect the hospital walking trail to the Heritage garden Park that will include a pedestrian crossing.; the city is applying for a $500,000 grant to further develop the Recreation park;

In other community news: Rotarians were notified there will be an open house at the new location of Kolder, Champagne, Slaven and Company Friday November 14 from 9-12 noon with ribbon cutting at 10:00am. Also, club members were invited to an open house for the first anniversary and ribbon cutting at Mayeaux Wealth Partners Friday November 7 from 10-12 noon.

Evangeline Parish – Louisiana State Police Detectives and the Evangeline Parish are asking for the public’s assistance in locating an individual wanted for questioning in a Ville Platte homicide. Louisiana State Police was notified by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office at approximately 9:30 pm on November 2, 2014, about a homicide which occurred on Abraham Street in the Kennedy Subdivision area of Ville Platte. State Police Detectives are assisting the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating the homicide.

State Police Detectives and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office stated that Christopher B. Goodley (B/M, DOB 9/4/1993) is wanted for questioning in the homicide. Goodley may still be in the Ville Platte area, and a photo of him is attached to this press release. Goodley should be considered armed and dangerous. If anyone knows of Goodley’s whereabouts, they are urged NOT to approach him, but to contact the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office at 337-363-2161 or Louisiana State Police Troop I at 337-262-5880.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Felicia Manuel, co owner along with her husband , Nick Manuel , of Ville Platte Iron Works. Ville Platte Iron Works has been in business since April 1, 1949 and began as a welding and fabricating shop. She and Nick Manuel moved back to Ville Platte in 2001 to begin working at the family business. Nick began learning how to operate the C&C industrial machines. Cameron offered the company to give them additional business if they bought these large industrial machines. Ville Platte Iron Works began making the internal parts for the large valves used in pipelines. Also Ville Platte Iron Works would provide sandblasting and coating the vales. It was in 2009, Ville Platte Iron Works moved into the old Holloway building next door to Cameron. They went from 15 employees to 35 employees over night. She also announced that the Evangeline Economic Development District chose Ville Platte Iron Works as its top home grown business with a special award. She was the special guest of Rotarian Wayne Vidrine.

In other news, the rotary club was notified:

--that the annual Christmas social is planned for December 9;

--New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will be visiting Ville Platte at Nicks on Main at noon;

--that the club has been approached by the Boy Scouts of America to be a sponsor for the Ville Platte Scout troop.

On October 21, 2014 the Ville Platte Police Asked for help in identifying a silver truck and locating the 3 white males and 2 white females involved with multiple break ins of storage buildings on South Chataignier Road. Chief Lartigue is now reporting that these suspects have been identified, located and 3 of the suspects have been charged in this incident. Two of the suspects were juveniles and no further information is being released on the juveniles at this time. According to information learned by investigations these 3 suspects are facing charges with other agencies including Oakdale, Oberlin and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Christina G. Hartzfelds 34 of 2234 Old Hwy. 13, Mamou, has been charged with simple burglary and simple criminal damage to property. Hartzelds is awaiting extradition on a $20,000.00 bond issued by Judge John Larry Vidrine.

Wesley Daniel Landry 20 of 1430 Magnolia Street, Pine Prairie, has been charged with simple burglary and simple criminal damage to property. Landry is awaiting extradition on a $20,000.00 bond issued by Judge John Larry Vidrine.

On October 21, 2014 officers responded to a home invasion call on North Latour Street. Officers and Detectives learned that a male suspect had forcefully entered the residence, attacked a female who was a former girlfriend and then fled the scene. . Officers apprehended the suspect a short time later that evening.

Arrested was Hilton Wilson 34 of 128 east Pine Street. Wilson was arrested without incident and charged with home invasion, second degree battery, simple battery, criminal damage to property and resisting an officer. Wilson was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail on a $20,000.00 bond issued by Judge John Larry Vidrine

A record number of voters packed the Evangeline Parish Courthouse Tuesday for the first day of early voting at the Registrar of Voters Office. Over 500 voters stood in line to vote early for the November 4 primary election according to Registrar of Voters Lucas Buller. The lines stretched as far away as to the Clerk of Court’s Office. The lines were not as long today. There is much interest in several of the local races in Evangeline Parish. Early voting ends Tuesday October 28. Voters are urged to get a sample ballot because in some of the areas, the ballot is very long that includes 14 constitutional amendments.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today(Tuesday) heard State Representative Bernard LeBas and Judge John Saunders discuss the constitutional amendments that will be on the election day ballot.

LeBas went through all 14 amendments and explained in some detail the pros and cons for each amendment. He suggested people acquaint themselves with the amendments and sample ballot to prepare to go vote.

Judge John Saunders of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals urged members of the Rotary Club to consider voting in favor of Amendment 5. A yes vote for Amendment #5 would eliminate the mandatory age of 70 for judges. Judge Saunders said the time has come for voters to seriously look at changing the age law for judges. Saunders has been serving on the court of appeals for the past 21 years and served several terms in the state legislature.

In other news, Evangeline Parish Superintendent of Schools Toni Hamlin reported that the school and student performance scores were released this morning. It showed a marked improvement in scores. She announced that 8 out of 12 schools in Evangeline Parish Public Schools scored A or B. The School district score improved to a grade of B.

Rotary Club President David Mayeaux announced that the Mamou Rotary Club will be folding at the first of the year and those Mamou members will be transferred to the Ville Platte club.

Also the Rotary Club Board approved the purchase and installation of new rotary signs at various areas throughout Ville Platte.

The Sacred Heart Interact Club will be preparing donation baskets to help fight polio to be displayed in rotary business locations throughout Ville Platte.

The Evangeline Parish School Board held its bi-monthly meeting Wednesday in the Media Center.

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin announced that on October 21st, a press release will go out regarding school performance scores and district performance scores. KVPI will sit down with Ms. Hamlin in an upcoming “Let’s Talk About It” to discuss the scores.

Thursday, October 16th at 12:30 p.m. and again on Friday the 17th at 9:30 a.m., Bob Hammonds, Special Counsel to the Board, will hold meetings to update principals and assistant principals on legal issues and 2014 legislative actions.

Ms. Hamlin received a “packet” of information regarding the growing concerns of the Ebola virus. She will be forwarding the packet to all EPSB users tomorrow. The packet includes information about the virus that will clarify how it is spread, etc.

The 911 office will hold a meeting next Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at the skating rink in Mamou. Ginger Landreneau, R.N., will speak on the Ebola virus as well.

Ms. Hamlin also congratulated Evangeline Parish First Student on receiving two awards:

Location of the Year

Shop of the Year

The President of the company presented the awards for excellence to First Turn. KVPI extends congratulations for the recognitions!

There will be a Policy Committee Meeting next Monday, October 20th at 5:00 p.m.

The chief addressed some of the concerns chamber members had last month after a number of businesses were broken into. Chief Lartigue said the rash of burglaries finally ended as of September 22 after implementing a special overnight patrol unit to check on businesses and targeting those walking without reflected gear.

He told chamber members cases cannot be solved in an hour like a TV show. Also on fingerprints, not all prints can be lifted and it all depends upon the surface. Also, if a print is lifted and submitted to the crime lab it may take 6 months to a year to come back for a match.

Chief Lartigue said it has always been the policy of the department not to identify the business place that was burglarized. However he will now give the business the option to permit their name to be used in the news release.

Stolen items are primarily being sold to private individuals or out of town. He said his department receives a list of pawned items each week that his investigators review for a possible match of stolen merchandise.

He announced that his department had 480 arrests since the beginning of the year with 58 felony arrests. For the month of October, the department responded to 611 calls, 45 citations were issued, 61 people were arrested, 12 felony arrests and they worked 31 traffic accidents.

Chamber member Mark Buller said his business and his neighbor were both recently broken into. He said he got a sense there “was a lack of concern by the police officers who worked the crime scene.” The chief said a new policy is now in place where detectives will have to follow up and contact the business to inform them of the status of their investigation.

One major issue facing the police department is the low starting pay. The starting pay for a police officer is $10.38 an hour. After they become certified, they receive a $500 raise in salary. It costs the city $4000 to train and certify officers.

In other business, Suzie Lemoine informed chamber members of a host of activities planned at the new Ville Platte library including “Ask A Lawyer” where two attorneys will offer free legal advice on October 23. The library is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8-6, Tuesday-8-8, Wednesday from 10-6 and Saturday from 8-12 noon.

In other business the chamber:

Approved two new members: Glen LeLeux and Dirt Cheap;

Reminded chamber members that the annual Chamber sponsored Christmas parade is Sunday December 7 at 5:30pm.

The Ville Platte City Council, Tuesday, heard from City Engineer Ronnie Landreneau announce that the city will be opening bids next week to begin Phase 3 of the City Water project. Phase 3 will include work in areas south of Main that has not been done in Phase 1. The multi -phase project is designed to completely replace all of the old city water lines. Landreneau said Main Street and LaSalle will be done last in Phase 4.

It was also reported that the fire marshal is reviewing the plans and specs for the proposed new City sponsored Boys and Girls Club that will be located in the old City Hall/Evangeline Bank building on Court street.

Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine announced five new businesses opened in the city in the last month including the Dirt Cheap store that is employing 42 workers.

It was announced that city hall is now accepting credit cards and debit cards. Ville Platte residents will be able to pay their utility bills on line within the next 2-3 weeks.

In other action the city council:

--approved the installation of large four way stop signs at the intersection of Lincoln and North Chataignier and Laran and Jefferson streets;

--received news that sales tax collections were up for 12 of the past 13 months in the city;

--announced Trick of Treating hours for Halloween October 31 will be 5-7pm;

--voted to move the next city council meeting from Nov. 11 to Nov. 5 at 5:00pm due to the original date falling on the holiday, Veterans Day; Also Tuesday Nov. 4, city hall will be closed for election day;

--approved the hiring of three full time patrol officers, two part time dispatchers and four part time jailers as recommended by the police chief;

--adopted a proclamation by Faith House for Domestic Violence Month. Faith House is sponsoring a “Take Back the Night” gathering Oct. 21 with a five block walk and a candlelight vigil;

--adopted a proclamation proclaiming October as Catholic Daughters Month;

The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from Bill Rodair, Director of the St. Landry Parish Economic Association. Rodair said his group works at bringing the parish together and preparing a plan of economic priorities. One of the projects he shared with Rotarians is the proposed St. Landry Parish Expo Center. The center will be located on donated property off I-49 and Harry Guilbeau road . The center will have the potential of bringing in 100,000 people a year. The center is expected to be constructed by 2019. He suggests Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish community and business leaders do the same thing in working for economic growth here locally. Rodair was the special guest of Rotarian Peter Strawitz.

The Evangeline Parish Police Jury held its monthly meeting tonight (Monday) in the courthouse. It was a lengthy meeting that contained much discussion on a few subjects.

Kevin Belanger, CEO, with the South Central Planning and Development District addressed the jury and went over a handout regarding a new commission that is being formed consisting of Parish Presidents, Mayors, etc., from a multi-parish area, to correct the problems that previously existed causing the areas to fall into a “D-Designation” status, which prevents the areas from receiving federal funding in many areas. The new commission would be to re-create stability and the status of the district. Mr. Belanger advises that “if the parish decides to join the commission, he feels the re-establishment could be up and running in a year to a year and a half.

The agenda included discussion on Road Use Permit changes. The Police Jury had asked the parish attorney, Marcus Fontenot, to draft an ordinance making some changes to the permitting process when a company is going to be using parish roads for a project. As written, the new ordinance would have required a bond of $15,000.00 for those who would use the roads for commercial use with the chance the roads could be damaged. It also gives the Police Jury President and Public Works Director, authority to decide who the ordinance would pertain, if so needed. Police Juror, Eric Soileau, voiced concern with the way the permitting process is as of now saying “Changes need to be made before more roads are damaged. There needs to be something in place to hold companies accountable.”

Police Juror, Bryan Vidrine, added “…there are exceptions made to people and they promise to fix any roads that are damaged…then the work gets done and then the parish gets left with their thumbs in the air.”

Concerned citizens, farmers, loggers, etc., spoke out on the issue and said the ordinance would cause great harm to their industry, especially with the $15,000 bond. It would cause a de-value in their crop or timber, etc., because of the additional cost for what “may happen” to the roads. There will be further discussions on the issue before a final decision is made.

Regarding the condemned property issue that the Jury has been tackling, out of the 12 property owners who were sent the “certified letters” regarding the clean-up or demolition to their property, only 3 have contacted Secretary/Treasurer, Donald Bergeron, about addressing the issues. Tonight anyone who has been sent a letter regarding their condemned property had the opportunity to address the jury. No one did so. The jury will now proceed with getting bids and moving forward with the clean- up or demolition of the properties.

It was agreed that the fees for renting the Pavilion at Crooked Creek will be $125.00/partial day and $200.00 for a full day. If someone also rents 12 camping sites around it, they will receive an additional day free.

Donald Bergeron reported that he received a letter from D.O.T. finally clearing the replacement of two bridges. One in District 6 and one in District 9.

2% Sales Tax revenues were $284,735.51. That is an increase from 2013 which was $257,280.06.

It was a beautiful night to begin the 2014 Louisiana Cotton Festival. The Ville Platte Civic Center was the setting for the first night’s events with Emcee Pat Derousselle, President of the Louisiana Cotton Festival.

Congratulations to the Royalty at Heritage Manor Nursing Home: New King is Emige Stagg and First runnerup to the King is Warren Fontenot age 63.

Congratulations to the new Queen Dorothy Edwards age 76. Her first runnerup is Laura Ortego age 94.

There was standing room only during the annual event. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, Col. Cotton Kary Lafleur and Parade Marshal Larry Lachney.

The Cotton Pickers entertained both the crowds of people and the new royalty. A Cajun Band provided the musical entertainment through out the program.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Steve Williams, plant manager of Union Tank Car Company. Williams, a native of Winfield served 27 years in the Air Force. Union Tank began as UTLX owned by the Rockefeller family to transport their Standard Oil nationwide. Union Tank leases cars to private companies and is the largest owner of tank cars in the country. The company has six maintenance facilities in the United States including Ville Platte. The local plant employs 126 hourly workers and 21 salaried employees. He explained that the workers have a tough job especially in the summer working in those hot rail cars. His company is currently training 48 welders at the Coreil Campus in a special two week program. Williams was the special guest of Rotarian Dr. Joey Soileau.

In other business, Rotary Club President David Mayeaux presented a $100 check on behalf of the club to the Faith House of Ville Platte.

On October 2, 2014 the Ville Platte Police Department responded to a tip regarding a suspicious white male going in and out of local businesses. Officers located the male on West Main Street and attempted to make contact with him. The suspect fled on foot and a short foot pursuit ensued. Officers caught the suspect and placed him under arrest without incident. Darrell Glenn May, 38 address unknown, was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail and charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting and officer and vagrancy. Officers and Detectives also discovered that May has an extensive criminal history and an outstanding warrant out of Calcasieu Parish. No bond information was available at press time.

Chief Lartigue reminds residents to continue being vigilant and alert to your surroundings. This incident led to an arrest because someone called in a tip that let officers know that this person was in the area lurking around businesses. If you have information on suspicious activity or illegal activity call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

The Evangeline Parish School Board held its bi-monthly meeting tonight (Wednesday). Chief Financial Officer, Amy Lafleur updated the Board on the changes in group benefits for all employees and retirees of the School Board. The open enrollment has been extended until November 30th and the effective date for the policy changes has been extended until March 1, 2015 instead of the January 1st date. She said to look for an email that she sent out…it contains an enrollment form people can use if they choose to. Also, be on the lookout for an informational booklet to arrive in the mail. Retirees are encourages to use the 800# to make their decisions in choosing a new plan. They are also encouraged to contact their physicians to ensure they are in the BC/BS network.

Superintendent, Toni Hamlin asked everyone to look very closely at the benefits and out-of-pocket expenses in the new plans. There are very big changes that they need to really look at.

Ms. Hamlin recognized Ms. Dianna Johnson for receiving the 3rd place National Barriers Award for the JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) Program at Evangeline Central. KVPI also congratulates Ms. Johnson on a job well done.

Ms. Hamlin announced that they had a recent conference call with State Supt. of Education White’s office and were told to move forward with preparing for the students to be given the PARC assessment at the end of the year .

There was discussion between Board members of great concern with using the Common Core and PARC assessment.

And, as of October 1st, the Student Membership Count (including Pre-K children) is 6,171 students. Ms. Hamlin pointed out that number is very close to where we were last year as a parish and it is positive to see stability.

School performance scores are due to be released the week of October 20th.

Evangeline Parish Sheriff Eddie Soileau told KVPI News today that his Chief Civil Deputy has been arrested. She has been identified as Rebecca DeVillier of Ville Platte, who has been serving as the Chief Civil Deputy in the Tax Department since 2003. DeVillier has been arrested and charged with malfeasance in office and felony theft. Her bond has been set at $25,000.

Sheriff Soileau stated that a preliminary investigation reveals that $40,000 was stolen over a one year period. It appears she was writing checks on the department general fund account.

The investigation has been turned over to the state police. The sheriff said their investigation began after officials in his department began finding irregularities in their checking account. The department auditors are reviewing all of the sheriff’s department financial records.

Recently the Ville Platte Police Department has received several complaints from businesses who have discovered counterfeit bills. Chief Lartigue warns businesses to check for watermarks, color fibers, vertical security threads and other identifiers that will help determine if a bill is fake or counterfeit. If there is bleeding ink anywhere on the bill then the bill is certainly suspicious and likely counterfeit. Chief Lartigue also stated that it is important to note that the commonly used counterfeit detection pen does not work on these bills and should not be the only verification used. Visual inspection can help determine if it is real or counterfeit.

If you see anything suspicious that would make you think the bill is counterfeit then you should be cautious and call the Ville Platte Police Department and report this information.

Chief Lartigue reports that several businesses have fallen victim to recent counterfeit bills and the amount has now reached almost $ 500.00 combined. Some of the bills are twenty dollar bills but the counterfeit bills are not limited to twenties. “If you have what you believe to be a counterfeit bill at your business please call right away.” Chief Lartigue said, “Calling after the customer leaves allows them to move on and do this to another business.” Quickly identifying these suspects will stop the distribution of these bills to other businesses.

If you have information on counterfeit money recently being distributed in the area or if you think that you have counterfeit money that is being presented at your business, call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

On Saturday September 27, 2014 at approximately 12:30 am officers on normal patrol discovered a truck parked behind a local business on Lucy Street. Contact was made with two suspects at that time. Arrested was Donnie Johnson 25 of 1174 L’anse De Tate Road, Ville Platte on an outstanding failure to appear warrant. Johnson was transported to the Evangeline Parish Sherriff’s Office jail for booking. Also arrested was Layton Michael Ashurst, 25 of 420 Wyble Road, Ville Platte. Ashurst was charged with no driver’s license, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Ashurst was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail where he remains incarcerated on a $5,200.00 bond.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club today at their weekly meeting heard from District 6200 Rotary Governor Ezora Proctor of Crowley. She met with Club President David Mayeaux and the local Club Board shortly before the meeting. She announced that there are 1.2 million Rotarians in more than 200 countries. The District Governor commended the local club for their community projects including: scholarships to LSU Eunice and Coreil Campus of Louisiana Technical College and supporting a youth Interact Club.

Her husband shared the District wide Spouse campaign to begin a Literacy Nutrition program in Second Grade classes. Rev. James Proctor announced the project saying each club is challenged to donate books on healthy eating and fitness to second graders and providing students a healthy snack. The program attacks obesity and supports literacy.

The District Governor along with Assistant Governor Yvonne Norman honored Club Member Brent Coreil with a Medallion of Honor for his service to Rotary for more than 40 years.

The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the new Evangeline Parish Public Library took place this morning. The program took place in the front of the library with Clerk of Court Randy Deshotel, emcee who introduced the many public officials, VIP’s and dignitaries. Among those who spoke were Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, Mary Foster Galosso, Parish Librarian and State Representative Bernard LeBas. There was a special flag raising and dedication by Fr. Mitch Guidry , Pastor of Our Lady Queen of All Saints and assisted by Fr. Jason Vidrine. The hundreds of visitors were given special tours of the new library facility. KVPI-FM did a live remote broadcast this morning during the grand opening.

The Ville Platte Rotary Club , today (Tuesday) heard from Evangeline Parish Sheriff Eddie Soileau discuss a situation his department is facing after losing $300,000 in state funds . The cut in funds took place when his department failed to comply with certain state rules dealing with state prisoners. Sheriff Soileau said “I did not follow the mandates such as having a nurse and registered dietician on staff.” He said the state also wanted the department to have a working suicide prevention program in place.

The state was paying the sheriff’s department nearly $25 a day to hold state prisoners as compared to the parish that pays only $3.50 a day for its prisoners. As a result of non compliance, all of the state inmates were removed from the parish jail.

Sheriff Soileau said he could not afford to pay the additional expenses to comply with the state mandates. Now with the loss of state funding, the sheriff said he will have to start cutting expenses by the first of the year. He warned the people of Evangeline Parish that the cuts could result in only having 2 deputies patrolling the entire parish. His department is planning to have some fund raisers such as raffles and BBQ’s to help purchase needed equipment for his department.

He reported that it costs $10,000 to certify a deputy. He said once a deputy is certified, chances are he leaves for a higher paying law enforcement agency. He said next year, the state will force law enforcement agencies to certify part time officers as well.

The sheriff said “If you want law enforcement in Evangeline Parish, then we have to make some major changes. There is just no money to provide the services we need to do.”

Rotarian Vic Slaven who invited the sheriff to speak told rotary members that the financial situation is critical with the sheriff department. Slaven’s C.P.A. firm handles the auditing services for the sheriff’s office.

Also speaking at the rotary club was U.S. Congressman John Fleming who spoke about the military situation in Iraq and Syria. The congressman was asked by Rep. Bernard LeBas and Brent Coreil to work in helping us fund the four laning of US 167 between Ville Platte and Opelousas.

During regular patrol on September 18, 2014 at approximately 3:15 a.m. an officer in the area of the 600 block of Jack Miller Road observed a black vehicle parked in the area of local businesses. As he approached the back of one of the businesses he observed a black male wearing a black hoodie and light colored pants running away from the building. The officer followed the suspect who then detoured through a field and between other buildings. The suspect evaded the officer. When the officer returned to the building that the suspect ran from he also observed that the black vehicle was no longer in the area. An Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Deputy and other Ville Platte Police units arrived to assist in searching for the vehicle and suspect that had both fled the scene. Witnesses nearby stated that they observed a black Dodge Challenger traveling west from the area at a high rate of speed. Dispatch was notified to contact the Eunice Police Department for K9 assistance in locating the suspect that fled on foot. The K9 was able to pick up a scent and track the suspect but could not locate the suspect in the area any longer.

During this time an Opelousas Police Officer observed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle. The officer turned around and attempted to locate the vehicle and was unable to catch up with it. This search led the Opelousas Police Officer into the Ville Platte City limits and onto Tate Cove Road.

The owner of the business arrived and the owner and officers made entry into the building. They discovered that the suspect had made entry into the business and that the business had damage to an outer wall. An undisclosed item was removed from the building but the suspect was caught off guard by the officer’s arrival and left the item on the ground as he fled.

Chief Neal Lartigue would like to thank the Eunice Police Department for their assistance with the investigation and use of the K9 unit and also the Opelousas Police Department for their assistance in the chase of the suspect vehicle.

Anyone who may have information on the black challenger in the area of Jack Miller Road at approximately 3:15 a.m. or the suspect that fled from the officers, is asked to call in with this information. Chief Lartigue stated that this vehicle was traveling dangerously through the city and may have been seen by someone. “If you know who this vehicle belongs too please call the department and share the information.” Chief Lartigue continued, “This driver put many people in danger including citizens of the city.” Call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

The Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce today (Wednesday) voted to extend an invitation to Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue to attend the next chamber meeting to address concerns raised by Chamber members. Mark Buller announced that his office was broken into a few weeks ago for the third time where his office computers were stolen. His neighbor, Dr. Phillipe Vidrine office was burglarized just last week. Chamber members were notified that other offices including pharmacies were burglarized. Buller said “I have the utmost respect for our police” but he feels more could be done. The chamber agreed to invite the police chief to express their concerns over the rash of business burglaries.

In other business, the chamber received a report from Col. Mike Borrel on the Louisiana National Guard Education Program. Col. Borrel said there are three Youth Challenge Camps in the state at Camp Beauregard, Carville and in Minden. He said these are not boot camps or prisons. They are targeted to assist at -risk 16-18 year olds. The camp lasts 22 weeks and the goal at the end is to have the youth join the military, get a job or go back to school.

Louisiana is the only state that has three such youth challenge camps. He announced that 1400 students from the program graduate out of a total of 8000 dropouts. Louisiana has one of the highest drop out rates of students in the country(over 8000) and one of the highest rates of juvenile incarceration.

The camp teaches 8 core components including leadership, citizenship, academics, job skills, life coping skills, health and hygiene, community service and physical fitness.

Chief Neal Lartigue reports two arrests for
attempted first degree murder and other charges.

On September 14, 2014 the Ville Platte Police
Department responded to a call where a person was being followed and shot at by
two suspects in a vehicle. Officers
located the vehicle on East Jefferson Street and initiated a stop. Upon approaching the vehicle the officers saw
a .45 caliber pistol and a large Ziploc bag with multiple smaller bags inside
containing a green leafy substance that they believed to be marijuana in plain
view. Also in plain view was a black bag
containing a digital scale, an undisclosed amount of cash and another bag
containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana.

Jamison Cortez Thomas, 25 of 512 South Stagg Street,
Ville Platte was arrested without incident and charged with attempted first degree
murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to
distribute a schedule I narcotic (marijuana), illegal carrying of weapon while
in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of or dealing
in a firearm with obliterated number or mark.
Thomas was booked into the Ville Platte City Jail and later transferred
to the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office on a bond of $500,000.00 set by Judge
John Larry Vidrine.

Daquonnyie Thomas, 20 of 713 Parkview Apartment 107,
Ville Platte was arrested
without
incident and charged with attempted first degree murder, possession with intent
to distribute a schedule I narcotic (marijuana), illegal carrying of weapon
while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of or
dealing in a firearm with obliterated number or mark. Thomas was booked into the Ville Platte City
Jail and later transferred to the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office on a bond
of $500,000.00 set by Judge John Larry Vidrine.

On September 12, 2014 at approximately 7:15 pm the Ville Platte Police Department responded to a call regarding a possible chemical spill. Upon arrival officers and Ville Platte Fire Department personnel detected a smell of ammonia in the area and began evacuating nearby residents as a safety precaution. Louisiana State Police and Louisiana State Police Hazmat division were notified of the situation. The Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office also assisted with this incident. The Detective on call responded to begin an investigation. The business owner reported hearing a noise and went outside to investigate. When he went out of the door an unknown chemical hit his legs causing burns to both legs. He was transported by family to Mercy Regional Medical Center.

Approximately 12 people were advised of a mandatory evacuation on East Washington Street and Railroad Avenue. Others in the area of East LaSalle Street evacuated voluntarily. Hazmat repaired the line and cleaned the scene and some residents were allowed to return to their residences that were not on East Washington at approximately 11:30 p.m. Residents on East Washington were not allowed to return to their residences at that time due to the strong odor from the leak. After Hazmat cleaned and cleared the area all residents but one were allowed to return home.

Chief Neal Lartigue was on the scene during the incident and stated that he appreciates the assistance and fast response by everyone involved and that safety of residents was the first priority. “People were evacuated for their safety and those not allowed to return to their residences that evening were kept away to protect them from inhaling fumes because a strong odor remained in the area.”

The cause of the leak is still under investigation.

Chief Lartigue asks residents to be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activity by calling the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.

The Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum celebrates its 4th anniversary this month. To celebrate the event, the museum will have an open house Friday Sept. 19 from 9-3. KVPI-FM Classic Hits 92.5 KVPI will be doing alive remote Friday morning with Jenn and Steph. Many swamp pop singers and musicians will be invited to attend the event. There will be no admission charge that day. Come view our musical heritage in the only museum that pays tribute to our unique South Louisiana music.

Sacred Heart High School has scheduled its 2014 Homecoming Festivities for Friday September 26. The school will honor the classes of 2015, 2005, 1995, 1985, 1975, 1965, 1955 and 1945. There will be a Homecoming Mass at 8:20am, Alumni Brunch at 9:30am in the High School Library, Pep Rally and Presentation of the of the Homecoming Court at 10:45am, Homecoming Parade at 4;00pm down Main Street at 4:00pm. The homecoming court is Sydney Buller, Natalie Earles, Andee Fontenot, Ashley Fontenot, Ashley Hesnor, Hailey Lafleur, Morgan Manuel, Blakely McCoy, Ainsley McDaniel, Alex Pitre and Elizabeth Soileau. The Homecoming Game: Sacred Heart Trojans vs. Mamou Demons at 7:00pm. For more information call Kimberly LeJeune at 363-8050.

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The Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum operated by the City of Ville Platte is open to the public every Friday and Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Come view the amazing artifacts, photos, records, Wall of Fame and hear the music. Admission charge is $3 adults, $2 seniors and $1 for children under 12. The museum is located on Northwest Railroad Avenue.